♪ >> the olympic flame is on its way. to go until the 30th olympic summer games begin. hello and a very warm welcome to this special edition of "european journal." we are in london in stratford, in the east of the british capital, to be precise, right in the middle of the olympic park. behind me, you see the big stadium. the opening ceremony will take place here. more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 nations will take part. both rich and poor countries will be represented. they are all equal in the competition's. that is one of the olympic ideals. but some athletes from greece

face a rocky path before they can actually take part. >> the greek olympic team has been training. virginia is an olympic sailors who comes here every day, even though the conditions leave a lot to be desired. in the run-up to the beijing olympics four years ago when she won bronze, the mood was bland, but this time around, it is all very different against the backdrop of the greek debt crisis. >> we can carry on training here until we go to london. then the entire sports center is going to be privatized. because the state has to sell off lots of its assets. this is our second home. we have no idea what we will do after that. >> this pole vaulter one bronze

at this year's european championship in helsinki. she obtained her personal best last year in london. both the aging facilities and the lack of funds are making greek olympic athletes pretty gloomy. >> things are getting worse by the day. every month, new problems emerge. who knows where it will land. many people my age have no money, not even enough to buy food. how can you concentrate on sports or train for the olympics under such conditions? >> nicoletta is fairly lucky. the olympics commission has convince private sector sponsors to set -- to step forward after her funds were cut. >> to make it to the olympics, you have to have been performing well. that means taking part in competitions at home and abroad, seeing what the rest of the competition is like.

if there is no money for that, preparation gets to be extremely difficult. >> agrees built a fine new sailing center -- greece built a fine new sailing center for the olympics in 2004. after the games, a to became a commercial marina, but today, parts of the huge site are falling into disrepair. virginia and sofia are working on the 472-person beneath -- dinghy. they need to come up with 3000 euros to pay for their next qualifying race. >> unfortunately, we chose an expensive and labor intensive sport. others just need to take along a swimsuit. we spend hours preparing our boat for transport. competitions involve huge effort, especially if we have to go abroad. >> they have to get by without

any sponsorship money. in recognition of her bronze in beijing, the greek authorities ordered virginia a license to run eight betting shop with a cafe attached. her whole family works there, and her father has decorated the shop with photos of her achievements. she can finance for sailing with the money she makes year. >> this is my source of income. it allows me to carry on doing sports on a professional level. i have no other source of funding any more, and the shop provides my family with a modest income as well. >> virginia a shock by the way that greek athletes now have to struggle to get by. just eight years after the resounding success of the athens olympics. and then the olympic games began here in greece. this is with the olympic spirit was born, and the whole idea of competitive sports.

the state cannot simply give up on its responsibilities. especially towards us athletes, who are going to represent our country in london. >> the first panathenaic games were held in athens in 566 bc. the first modern olympics were held here in athens in the late 19th century. va says that greece must not forsake its ancient traditions or its promising young athletes. >> do you know who this had and i belong to? sherlock holmes, the famous detective. even he would have had a hard time tracking down the people behind betting frauds. it is next to impossible in our digital age. the culprits can literally be anywhere in the world manipulating sports bets on the internet. today, abetting fraud is considered the biggest threat to sports after doping, and it is something the organizers of

london 2012 are taking very seriously. >> there is no doubt about who the big winners in the summer olympics will be -- london's bookmakers. they already handled billions of pounds a year in bets and horse and dog races and soccer matches, but the olympics mean a gambling bonanza. the gambler's just pay and help for the best. he generally 61 services, but he is making an exception for the olympics. >> i see on the box every day, and the people i talk to. in this country, they will be taking in serious money. >> the global betting industry brings in hundreds of billions of euros a year. gamblers bet on every sport and game, down to the smallest

decision. it goes on even during the games. it is easy to get lost in the jungle of ever-changing data, and this opens the door to manipulators. and here we are in the main hub, the fortifications system. as you can see, we have a number analysts today. >> the analysts are like detectives, hunting down manipulators. their clients include the union of european football associations and national sports associations. >> the technical system is set up monitoring over 300 book makers worldwide, processing 100 million data sets a day and using approximately 25 different betting algorithms to attack the same problem, to identify potential irregularities in a betting market. the most irregularities occur in soccer. an example from an eastern european first division match. in the 50th minute, the score was 0-0, and yet, bettors were still putting their money on a huge win for one side. then, suddenly, the home team

scored five goals. >> they are very confident that they are more than two goals, more than three goals, and all of this was very successful. people that that in this game clearly knew what the outcome of the game was going to be in advance. the match was fixed, but not only was it fixed -- the worst people on both teams would have been involved in the spirit possibly the referee. it was highly coordinated. >> sport radar estimates that about one soccer match in 100 is fixed. one well-known example was the two penalty kicks awarded by the referee in the 2004 german cup, and he called no fouls. croatian gamblers have them appear allegations affixing even if the german national team. a big problem with prosecuting manipulators is that they are often based in asia, beyond the

reach of the law. they maintain global networks and fronts that can place bets on command. players in the minor leagues are easier to buy. >> there is no chance of bringing down the system. it is so well established by now and so difficult to prosecute on the global level that we are afraid we will be seeing entirely different dimensions in the future. >> he predicts that these new dimensions might even turn up at the summer olympics in london. he heads investigations of the international bidding syndicates. confirms that the olympics will be especially hard-hit by manipulating because the games include lots of individual disciplines. where hold teams cannot be manipulated, it is much easier to get individual athletes to produce the desired results.

>> british law enforcement authorities and the international olympic committee are taking the threat very seriously. they put a special task force on the problem. after all, the olympics are about fair competition, not gambling. >> modern boxing has its origins in england. at the beginning of the 19th century, prizefighters would use their bare fists to knock out opponents. today, this pub holds the memory of this godfather of boxing alive. for decades, women who wanted to take up boxing were frowned upon as tomboys. to use one of the more flattering terms. until recently, women's boxing was not accepted in most societies, but all that has changed now, and this year seize a historic first -- and mature women in the ring at the olympics. >> these two women pull no punches.

they are slugging it out for the european light welterweight title in boxing. one is belgian. the other is romanian. the woman from belgium wants. >> what i box, i do not try to knock out my opponent in the first round. i want to put up the good fight and show people that boxing is not a sport for bruisers. it is a very strategic sport. >> sabrina guiliani is one of the toughest women in a tough sport. she trains for her fights at least three times a week in her home town. >> the 15 years, i have been almost the only girl here, but actually, i learned a lot more with the boys. they are stronger, so i have to put up a better defense before i can think about attacking. that is the perfect way to

prepare for fights against other women. >> her father is her coach and manager. he does everything he can for his million-year-old baby -- million-euro baby. belgium may be small, but it has turned out lots of boxers. >> we are among the best in europe. we cut a good figure. it takes a lot of personal commitment from the boxers to do that, and from all of us. we do much of the organizing ourselves. belgium currently has four european champions, of which two are women. that is fantastic. >> the 16-year-old follows every move. she is also dreaming of a career in the ring. she has already taken the first step -- a few months ago, she was accepted on the belgian national boxing team.

her ambition now is to win a title. >> it is really something special to be coached by a european champion. it feels so great. boxing is really my sport. i want to go as far as possible. my dream is to take part in the olympic games sunday. >> sabrina may be one of the best female boxers, but she does not qualify for the olympics. only amateur athletes can take part, and she went professional a few years ago. her father supported her all the way. >> to be a professional boxer is a special distinction. you have to collect a certain number of victories to be accepted. in addition, the rules are tougher appear the fights last longer, and the pros box without helmets. >> in belgium, being a professional boxer does not necessarily mean earning money.

sponsors will only invest at most a few hundred euros in the athletes and their clubs. sabrina has to compensate with long, hard days and lots of self discipline. >> i work full time as a supervisor in a youth center. it is pretty hard work. often, i have to do night shift, and right after work, i go to training. i do not have much time for anything else. >> when she does have extra time, she likes to spend it just doing what girls do, and she is joined by rookie boxer calliope. and even if -- >> even if i am into a man's sport, it does not

mean i have to look like a man. it is important for me to be myself, no matter what people say or what prejudices they have about a woman who box. >> calliope is not afraid of prejudice. she wants to follow in sabrina's footsteps, and she knows it will not be easy. whether male or female, boxers have to fight to succeed. >> europe is firmly in the grip of sports fever this summer. the euro 2012, the european football championships, has just come to an end. adjournment was jointly hosted by poland and ukraine, which gave it a political as well as sporting dimension. poland is in the eu and wanted to use the opportunity to open some doors for the former soviet republics, ukraine. let's take a look at how far they got. >> it was a sporting coup for eastern europe, the first time it got to host the european soccer championship, but while polish fans were celebrating the event, the tournament in ukraine

was overshadowed by politics. the wbc heavyweight champion used the event to promote his party. he aims to take the party into parliament this fall and loosen the grip of authoritarian president. >> the government does not care about the people. they wanted the european championships here to order the construction of new stadiums, but why were these stadiums much more expensive than those in germany or poland? because they were built with state funding that ended up lining the pockets of a few. >> vitale has had in there, especially with the people. many were disillusioned by the 2012 championship. >> the championship was good for the others. it just made them richer. >> nothing has changed, but he could change things.

then the european championship was meant to raise ukraine's profile, attracting tourists and investors to the former soviet republic. but those efforts failed, and since the tournament, ukraine has been just as isolated as before. >> we souvenir dealers could hardly get rid of our stock. there was no massive influx of tourists. the restaurants suffered, too. >> he had strongly supported the european championship in ukraine. he served as an ambassador. and was a member on the organizing committee. the opposition wanted to draw the world's attention to the treatment of the former prime minister and opposition leader, yulia tymoshenko. they took their grievances to the fan mile. many western politicians even boycott of the tournament but without effect.

tymoshenko remains in custody. >> it is against every human rights, and we should not tolerate it, but i do not see anyone in a position wanted to change the situation. >> i know she is in prison for something. >> cisco has had firsthand experience of the government's repression of critics. during the election campaign, his party has been impeded and defamed. he accuses the government of employing shameful methods that the ukrainian people do not deserve. >> the people who have come to less see what great potential ukraine has -- how beautiful the country is, how hospitable the people are. >> although most visitors only made fleeting visits, the european championships summer did at least unite ukrainians.

the national flag flew all over the country, but the tournament once more show the people of ukraine how far the country is from democracy. this could be the opportunity for a man who has yet to make his mark in politics. then he is new to politics, and if he stays as honest as he is in his sport, it could work. klitschko admits politics is a battle with the sport. in soccer, there is a referee to make sure the fight is a fair one. in politics, ukraine needs europe as a referee. >> sports can also mean some kind of escape. you leave the busy city. you forget about the strains of daily routine and let your body and soul get back in tune.

this sense of harmony is what many people look for in physical activity. spare time athletes do not necessarily break any records, but some of them have really ambitious goals. emma thomas is planning -- >> thomas is planning his longest hiking trip to date. 740 kilometers in three weeks -- that is his goal. >> lots of people ask me if i am crazy. i say maybe you have to be crazy to do something like this, so that makes me crazy, but in three weeks time, i will be the happiest person around. >> be happy wanderer with

blisters on his feet. they are part and parcel of hiking. shore excursions just do not fit the bill. he is looking for a challenge, a reason to get out of his comfort zone. >> when you see what your body can do, what an average guy like me can achieve, it builds up your confidence, and it makes you tougher than you were before. >> the german hiking association has 600,000 members. that is 200,000 more than the country's soccer association. people even hike in big cities like berlin. the head of the berlin hiking club took up walking when he came down with knee problems. >> my orthopedist advised me to get a job where i could sit, so i did the only thing i could --

i never went to an orthopedist again but study going walking and then hiking. over time, i am better at it than others. >> perseverance is one thing, but in addition to the training, careful preparation is also essential in hiking. and although he plans his routes down to the last detail, even thomas ended up lost once. he resorted to calling for help of the divine sort, that is. and the dear god, -- >> dear god, i said. show me the way or give me a sign appeared i had hardly spoken with an old man came around the bend and said he was not god, but if i was looking for the hiking trail, i was on the right track and the next crossroads was up ahead. >> many people are attracted by the spiritual power of hiking. a book by a german indicator about his tour on the way of

saint james is one of the most successful nonfiction books, selling 4 million copies. in it, he describes how he found himself and his face on the tour. now, the famous pilgrimage route is set to feature in a hollywood movie, "the way," which follows four people who follow the path each on their own spiritual quest. this author has no such esoteric ambitions. he just enjoys getting out and about with his backpack. he has written three books on the subject. for him, hiking is an escape. >> in my experience, if you have got a professional or personal problem and you have reached a dead-end, you go for a four or five-hour walk and think about it. suddenly, those not just loosen up.

you can see way out, and you are standing there with the answer in front of you. >> 660 kilometers from home, thomas is bringing another day's hiking to a close. he is not looking for answers. just a cold shower for his sore feet. >> of course you'll regret it. you often ask yourself during the hike. but it all seems normal when you have finished in the evening. >> the next morning, he is off again. after just over three weeks, he has reached his destination and is all the happier for it.

>> well, he is not going to win an olympic medal, no matter how good his hiking skills are, but a total of 4700 olympic medals -- gold, silver, and bronze -- will soon go to the world's top athletes. for now, they are kept here in the tower of london, very well protected, of course, together with the crown jewels. that is all we have time for here on "european journal." thanks for watching this special edition from london. until next week, bye and auf wiedersehen. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--